


Someone Who's Ready

by Trufreak89



Category: Happiest Season (2020)
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27791875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trufreak89/pseuds/Trufreak89
Summary: Abby runs off from the party and it's Riley who finds her, instead of John.It’s Christmas Eve, and Oxwood is one of the few places still open on Main. Even if it wasn’t, Abby would still be there. It isn’t just a bar. It’s a safe space, a part of their community.Riley takes a seat across from her, casually slinging her arm across the back of the booth. “I figured you’d be here. Well, it was here or the freeway. So, fifty-fifty.”
Relationships: Abby Holland/Riley Johnson, Harper Caldwell/Abby Holland
Comments: 19
Kudos: 281
Collections: H_S





	Someone Who's Ready

  
_“I’m not a lesbian!”_ Harper screams and it’s the last straw. Abby can’t take this bullshit anymore. She makes for the door and slams it shut behind her. The bitter night air bites at her tear-stained cheeks, but it doesn’t feel anywhere near as cold as Harper just was to her. 

Abby wraps her arms around herself, hugging her jacket to her petite frame as she tries not to hyperventilate. It’s no good. Her breaths come in short sharp rasps that appear as clouds of cold air in front of her and her lungs burn. 

Abby’s heart aches and she wants to scream at the top of her lungs as she stumbles and leans against the nearest car. It’s Harper’s car, and that just makes things worse. 

The Caldwell’s front door opens, the sound of screaming and shouting spilling out into the driveway. Abby clenches her teeth, holds in her screams and bolts into the night. 

She can’t deal with Harper and her wide-eyed apologies, or John and the ‘I told you so’ that will no doubt spill out of his lips the second his eyes land on her. Abby can’t deal with any of this shit anymore. 

She runs - ignoring John’s cries for her to stop - until his voice is nothing more than a whisper in the wind. Her lungs are on fire and her heart slams against her rib cage like a moth against a closed window. 

Abby has no idea where she is when she comes to a stop against a mail box to catch her breath. A glance up and down the street does little to help her get her bearings, so Abby slumps to the sidewalk and holds her head in her hands while she sobs. 

She can’t believe Harper said what she did. The truth was out. She didn’t even have to say anything. All Harper had to do was let it go. Abby would’ve been there for her, no matter what. Harper could have said literally anything, and Abby would have stood by her. Anything.

_I’m not a lesbian!_

Anything but that. 

She was going to ask Harper to marry her. There’s an expensive as shit engagement ring hidden in her suitcase that cost Abby the better part of her last student loan. She was going to propose, and Harper can’t even say she’s gay out loud, never-mind to her parents. What kind of life could they even have? Yesterday Abby wanted to propose to her girlfriend. Now she doesn’t even know if she still wants to be with Harper. 

Abby’s phone rings, snapping her out of her thoughts. She has no intentions of answering, but checks to see who’s calling, anyway. Another part of her heart crumbles as she sees its John and not Harper. 

Abby sends the call to her voicemail before changing her mind and turning the phone off all together. The last thing she needs is John tracking her down again. She starts walking and she doesn’t know where she’s going, but it doesn’t matter. Abby just needs to keep moving. 

* * *

  
  
Riley walks into the Oxwood half an hour after the debacle at the Caldwell house. Abby has gone dark on Harper and her friend. Riley didn’t catch his name earlier. She only heard Tipper announcing, loudly and for all to hear, that the - obviously gay - man was supposed to be Abby’s ex-boyfriend. Please! Riley’s dead grandma has better gaydar than Tipper Caldwell.

Just as Riley suspected she would be, Abby sits hunched over in a booth, head down, nursing a glass of bourbon. There aren’t a lot of places for people like them in this town, so she isn’t surprised Abby was drawn here like a moth to the flame.

It’s Christmas Eve, and Oxwood is one of the few places still open on Main. Even if it wasn’t, Abby would still be there. It isn’t just a bar. It’s a safe space, a part of their community. 

Riley takes a seat across from her, casually slinging her arm across the back of the booth. “I figured you’d be here. Well, it was here or the freeway. So, fifty-fifty.”

“Lucky guess.” Abby drawls. “I just felt like being somewhere people don’t view my very existence as a political act.” She slurs her words and her eyes are unfocused as they settle on Riley. It’s a fair bet she’s already five sheets to the wind by now.

“I hear that!” Riley picks up the other girl’s glass and takes a drink. Abby doesn’t object, she’s far too nice for that, and that’s Abby all over.

She’s sweet, and Riley wonders if people take advantage of her good nature often; and by people she means Harper. Riley’s been there. Her tenure as Harper’s whipping dog lasted far longer than Abby’s, but the stakes for Abby are far higher. 

Riley licks at her lips. The taste of cheap bourbon lingers on them. “Harper didn’t mean what she said. She was scared.” 

“She still said it.” Abby snatches her glass out of Riley’s hand, finally showing a little spirit. The other woman bites back a smirk. A selfish part of her wants to cheer Abby on and tell her to kick Harper’s sorry ass to the curb, but this isn’t about Riley. 

“I can’t… I can’t do it anymore. It’s over. I’m done.” Abby shakes her head, still nursing her cheap liquor. Riley reaches across the table, placing a hand on her arm. 

“You don’t meant that.” She says, but Abby shakes her head more vigorously this time. “Things will look different in the morning when you’ve had time to cool down.” 

“I can’t do it. I won’t.” Abby huffs. Her eyes well up with tears and she wipes at them with the back of her hand. “Did you know I was going to ask her to marry me? How the hell are we supposed to share a life together if Harper can’t even tell her family we’re a couple?”

Riley didn’t have an answer for her, but then Abby wasn’t really looking for one. She just needed someone to listen. “How can we ever have what Sloane has, huh? We’ll never be able to get married and have kids, because Harper is too damn scared! I’ll always be her orphan friend! The ‘straight’ roommate!” 

Riley scoffed and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help herself. “Sweetie, how anyone can mistake you for straight is beyond me! Have you seen yourself? In an actual mirror?” 

“I can pass!” 

“Seriously?” Riley rolls her eyes again, her hand going to her mouth to hide a snort of laughter. “Abby, I could tell you were gay from all the way across the restaurant when we first met! Plus, you’re a terrible liar.” 

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Abby sulks and finishes her drink. 

“Because you are.” Riley leans over and pats her hand with a smirk. 

“Next round is on me. What do you want? And don’t say whatever piss water was in that glass.” 

“Anything alcoholic.” Abby shrugs. She doesn’t care at this point. Her heart is broken. She’ll drink mouthwash if it will give her a buzz. 

Riley comes back a short while later carrying two tumblers of what tastes like top shelf whiskey as Abby takes a sip. It’s strong and smooth as it burns its way down her throat.

“Last orders. They’re closing up soon.” Riley informs her, without looking like she’s in any hurry as she sips at her own drink. “It’s Christmas Eve. I guess some people have families to go home to. Shit, that was a terrible thing to say. I’m sorry!” 

“Forget it about it.” Abby snorts into her glass. “It was actually pretty funny.” 

“Thanks, I’m here all week.” Riley gave a flourish with her hand and a bow of her head, making Abby break out in a fit of giggles. She sobered up as a startling realisation hit her like an express train. 

“I have nowhere to go…” 

Riley’s eyes shone with pity. “What about your friend? He was looking for you after you left the party. Can’t he take you home?” 

“Home? To Harper’s apartment…” It was Abby’s apartment too, once upon a time. It doesn’t feel that way anymore. Abby can’t stay there. She can’t face John right now, either, and she tells Riley as much. 

The other woman unbuttons her blazer and sits back, stretching out across the seat as she purses her lips and considers the options. “Fine. Come home with me then.” 

Abby stares at her in shock for a full ten seconds before she bursts out laughing. “Riley, I’m sorry, but I’ve got enough problems without falling into the sleeping with my ex’s ex trope.” 

Riley shook her head with a soft chuckle. “I didn’t mean it like that. My parents have a guest room. You’re welcome to lay your head down for the night and figure things out in the morning. No strings attached.”

“I could… I can just find a hotel?” Abby shrugs, and she hates it comes out like a question. 

“Not on Christmas Eve in this town, you can’t. C’mon, Abby. Just come back to my parents’ house with me.” 

“Why are you so nice to me?” Abby blurts out. The question has been playing on her mind for days now, and Riley’s offer only confuses her more. 

Riley smiles and bites at her lip and, god, it suddenly hits Abby just how unbelievably fucking pretty she is. No wonder Harper was acting all jealous earlier. “I’m a doctor, Abs. Caring for people is my job.”

Abby ducks her head and brushes her hair back from her face. “Thank you. Seriously, the only thing bearable about this stupid town has been you.” Maybe it’s the alcohol, or that her entire world has imploded, but Abby leans forward. 

Riley pulls back, putting a hand up to Abby’s chest to stop her from kissing her. “That’s not a good idea. You’re drunk.” 

“I’m sorry!” Abby rears back like she’s been stung, and a hand flies up to her mouth in horror as she bursts out crying. “I am so sorry! Everything is so fucked up and… and I-” 

“Take a breath, Abby.” Riley reaches over and gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze, letting her know she hasn’t completely fucked things up and burned her last bridge in this damned town. “Things will look better in the morning. I promise. Come on, I’ll call us a ride.” 

It’s Christmas Eve, so of course the Uber takes forty minutes to show up and Abby and Riley are freezing their asses off in the street waiting for it long after the bar closes and kicks them out. 

Abby isn’t too steady on her feet, so Riley has to help her into the back of the car. It’s a small town, and the driver went to school with Riley. 

He makes small talk with her while Abby rests her head on the cool window and closes her eyes in an effort to keep herself from throwing up. Riley’s hand rubs circles into the small of her back for the whole ride. 

“So I’ve got this rash and it… hey, is your girlfriend okay? I don’t want her puking in my car!” 

“She’s fine.” Riley snaps. If one more person asks her to diagnose something she’s going to lose her shit and commit a Christmas massacre. 

She bites at her lip, glancing hesitantly at Abby before locking eyes with the driver in the rear-view mirror. “And she’s not my girlfriend.” 

The driver shrugs and goes back to talking about his rash. 

They pull up at the Bennett house and Abby finally opens her eyes again. Riley was starting to think she might actually be sleeping. “Fuck me!” Abby gasps at the sight of the house. It’s big enough to be considered a mansion. “You live here?”

“My parents do.” Riley laughs as she helps Abby out of the car. She keeps her arm linked with Abby’s as she types in the code for the double security gates. They swing open and then close behind them as the pair stumble up the drive.

“It’s practically a mansion…” Abby continues to gawk. 

“Mansions have servants… my parents sent theirs home for the weekend.” Riley winks and Abby can’t tell if she’s joking or not. She laughs anyway, and it feels strange to laugh when her heart is shattered into a million tiny pieces. 

Riley has that effect. She’s made Abby feel nothing but comfortable the whole time she’s been there. It could have been so easy for her to play the bitch and stick the knife in, especially given what Harper did to her Freshman year. Riley is what her dad liked to call ‘good people’.

The house is in darkness, save for the lights on the wraparound porch. Riley lets go of Abby’s arm to fish in her jacket pockets for her keys. “My parents must still be at the party.” 

“Oh, great!” Abby sighs, her breath appearing in front of her as a puff of hot air. “They probably saw my total humiliation too.” Riley doesn’t reply. She just rolls her eyes, opens the door and tugs Abby inside like a stray cat. 

“Make yourself at home.” Riley kicks off her flats and shrugs off her overcoat and her blazer in one fluid motion. Abby tries to follow suit with her blazer and knocks her elbow into an expensive looking vase on a side table by the door. Riley steadies it before it can fall. 

“Maybe you should sit down for those.” She points at Abby’s lace-up boots and the blonde agrees. She slumps onto the bottom step of the grand hardwood staircase and catches sight of herself in a full-length mirror by the door. 

Her mascara is running down her cheeks and her eyeliner is smudged, giving her panda eyes. She’s sitting in a fucking mansion and making the place look untidy. A hysterical giggle escapes her before she can slap a hand to her mouth to stop it. 

“Here. Let me help.” Riley kneels in front of her and starts unlacing her boots. Abby feels like a fucking kid and she bursts out laughing again, but this time it turns into a sob. 

Riley pulls off the other girl’s boots and places them aside before offering her a hand. “Come on, let’s get you some hot cocoa. That stuff can fix anything.” 

“I’m not so sure.” Abby doesn’t agree, but she follows Riley to the kitchen, anyway. She sulks at the breakfast bar, resting her chin on her folded arms while Riley boils a pan of milk on the stove and adds cocoa powder to two large mugs. “I’m single and effectively homeless. Can hot cocoa solve that?

“Noooo.” Riley answers, drawing out the word. “But, it could be worse.”  
  
“How?”

Riley pauses with the hot pan hovering over one of the two mugs. “I don’t actually know, it just sounded like the right thing to say. Sorry.” 

Abby shakes her head, but there’s a hint of a smile playing on her lips. Riley places a mug of hot cocoa down in front of her, complete with marshmallows and sprinkles, and Abby bites her lip. 

A huge grin spreads over her face. “My Mom used to make us hot cocoa with marshmallows every Christmas Eve.” The memory isn’t painful like people might expect. Abby loved her parents. The time she had with them meant the world to her, and her memories are all happy ones. 

“Well, I’m happy to carry on the tradition.” Riley smiles back, without a hint of pity in her eyes and it takes Abby aback. Most people would apologise, or say something shitty like how sorry they were for her loss. Riley isn’t most people.

“You know, most people usually act all sorry for me when I bring up my dead parents.” 

Riley takes the empty stool beside her at the breakfast bar, hunching her slender shoulders as she blows on her hot cocoa. “Yeah, well, most people are dumb. My parents died when I was six, so I’m used to the pity parties.” 

“Huh? I thought… I thought your parents were at the Caldwells? Did I miss something?” Abby frowns, wondering if maybe she’s more drunk than she thought. 

“The Bennetts are my adoptive parents.” 

“I’m sorry…” Abby apologises and then catches herself. “Shit, I’m sorry! I hate it when people do that to me.” 

Riley shrugs off her apology without looking at her, stirring her cocoa with a finger and then popping it into her mouth. “It’s fine. I lucked out with the adoptive parents. They’re seriously loaded.” She knocks her shoulder into Abby’s, which draws a soft laugh from the other girl as she ducks her head. 

Riley bites the inside of her cheek. Harper has no idea how lucky she is. How can she, if she’s willing to turn her back on someone as amazing as Abby? “Serious, though, it could have been a lot worse. They accept me for who I am… all of me.”

“Mine too.” Abby sighs wistfully, her hands cradling the piping hot mug. “I came out at sixteen. They supported me. Accepted me… Hell, high school wasn’t a breeze, but life in the city was better than this small town bullshit. I’m sorry you had to grow up here.” 

“It wasn’t all bad… until your girlfriend basically ruined my life.” Riley teases, only half joking. “I, uh, I should go make up one of the guest rooms. Drink your cocoa.”

Riley leaves the other girl in the kitchen, closing the door behind her and leaning against it as she cokes back a sob. She smothers a second with her hand, tears running down her cheeks. She’s been where Abby is now.

If she could take her pain away she would, but a band-aid or a pill won’t fix what Abby is feeling right now. There’s nothing Riley can do but offer a shoulder for the other woman to cry on. 

She can’t believe Harper, Abby deserves so much better.

Don’t go there, Riley! She scorns herself. She’s not about to become a walking cliche. Abby is distinctly off limits. Riley told herself that the moment she set eyes on her at the restaurant with Harper. Nothing has changed. Abby needs a friend — not more complications. 

Riley makes up a room down the hall from her own and goes back to fetch her guest. She finds Abby still hunched over at the breakfast bar, her mug empty and her eyes wet with tears again. She looks up as Riley walks back in. 

“Riley, about earlier - in the bar - I am so sorry. I wasn’t… that’s not who I am.” 

“Forget about it. I have. Come on, lets get you to bed.” Riley dismisses Abby’s feeble attempt at an apology and leads her up to the second floor. 

The guest ‘room’ is almost the size of her and Harper’s apartment. There’s an ensuite, with fresh towels and Riley has left an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts on the bed for her to sleep in. “Are these okay?” 

Abby brushes back her hair and ducks her head with a small smile. “They’re great. Thanks.” She says, her arms wrapped around herself. “Uh, see you in the morning?” 

“Yeah. Goodnight.” Riley steps forward and they share an awkward hug. It’s brief. Riley is the one who pulls away first, not trusting herself to linger. “See you in the morning, Abs. Sleep tight.”


End file.
